106 Responses

You may have your NYRA Moment of the Year by New Year’s Eve. New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapol has just issued a subpoena to the NYRA to force Wayward Hayward’s hand to disclose finances. Hayward still insists the NYRA will run out of money by May, so I may be seeing your three guys out in CA this spring after all…. to see the Belmont Stakes run at Santa Anita.

hey FALLON, nothing you say anymore matters, remember??? That website you are touting is nothing more than a “BLEEDING HEARTS” website started by race fans, big deal!! NOT….they should worry more about all the catastrophic breakdowns on the pro ride and the poly than anything else…..as far as you talking about avg. field sizes…that amazes me “IF” that info is accurate, because for the last year in cali-poly, we see more 4-6 horse size fields than ANYWHERE ELSE in the country….and for the record, FINGER LAKES has a better shot of getting the Belmont than any of your 3 FAKE Tracks

DS- Carolyn and i are just the messengers of truth. Don’t shoot us. Shoot the rain gods, who seem to hate the NY venues.

Just this past spring I convinced AJ of the misperceptions of the average Spa patron. They read in the morning DFR that there are 16 horses entered to race in a turf contest that day and then after the rain gods have had their way with the track, you are left with 4 mudders instead of 12 turfers in the race. You have to look at how many horses ACTUALLY RUN in the races at the Spa and then you’ll see that it is, indeed, true that the SoCal tracks average more runners per race than the Saratoga.

As for the Belmont this year, Southern Californians are opening their arms and hearts to the beleaguered NYRA and NY racing public in their quest for a track to run the race. I checked out the Finger Lakes oval…more like a circle…and the horses would have to start at mid back stretch and circle that oval four times to complete the 1.5 mile trek. I think this is too hard on the horses and AJ’s neck to handle, so I see the NYRA approaching Santa Anita for the honors to host the 2010 Belmont.

James Fallon,
How about this. You worry about California Racing with it’s reduced fields and racing days, and of course that crap they run on. And us Saratogians and other NY’ers can worry about NY Racing, OK?

Now back on topic, the NY Racing moments of the year had to be RA’s two smashing appearances in the Mother Goose at Belmont and the emotionally charged Woodward at the Spa.

(Just like the New Jersey moment of the year (the Haskell) and the Maryland moment of the year (Preakness) and other than the Derby, Kentucky’s moment of the year (Oaks), And Arkansas, Louisiana too!!!) LOL

AJ, AJ, AJ. While I agree that the RA racing moments were THE moments for NY junior racing circuit by far, it’s time to move on with the racing world now virtually singing with one voice that Z will reign as HOTY.

This denial on your part can’t be all that good for you, especially with you needing to stay sharp handicapping the 2010 winter meets at….drum roll…Santa Anita, and Gulfstream for the next 3 months. And don’t worry, NY racing will return in March in time for the Wood Memorial and then Belmont, whatever state in which they will be held.

PS- I really think ya’ll should seriously consider moving all three NY tracks south and higher in elevation so you have a nice venue all year around; not too hot and humid in summer and not too frigid in spring,winter and fall. Perhaps Carolyn has some political and real estate contacts in the Virginia highlands, say the Blue Ridge area above Charlottesville. That would be gneiss.

first you have to be able to spell political, real estate and contacts before shooting from the lip with me fallon, you don’t matter, what are you gonna do when all 3 of your tracks(I mean surfaces) are shut down sooner than later??????

James Fallon,
You and the rest of the Zenyatta fans, like Carolyn and her constant rants that prove she knows little or nothing about racing, are in for a terribly disappointing night on January 18th. That is unless their is co- HOTY’s.

Saratoga,DS, Let me spell it out for you. I don’t care about HOTY. First, HOTY is for a year’s work, a LEGACY IS FOR A LIFETIME…
Although all of Ra fans can’t stand to hear it, Zenyatta has her LEGACY ALREADY EARNED…
Lets see what you RA fans have at the end of this year…if she races at all….She will rank well below Zenyatta on that scale…she has already ranked below her, she has been defeated…

DS- You can make fun of my spelling, but you cannot make fun of PolyTrack! I think it should be recognized as a National Treasure, and I even heard some rumblings from the associate editor at Scientific American that it may be named “Substance of the Year”. Alertly anticipating this announcement, I have replaced the dirt floor in my Man Cave at home and resurfaced with PolyTrack. Importantly,I have experienced fewer injuries come beer time ever since.

AJ- January 18th, the Day of Reckoning.

I’ve been practicing 20 yard wind sprints all December just to be in shape to take a victory lap around my jacuzzi the moment the Queen is announced as HOTY. What a glorious day that will be. Then RA can get to the business of trying to win it for 2010. If she is worthy, she too will win it just like the Big Mama Cat did this past year.

DS and AJ- As an aside, if the Saratoga Track closes its meet this year due to NYRA bankruptcy, will this affect the beer prices at Siro’s and the Horseshoe, I mean overly?

James Fallon:
You have 12 days to name your bet. I’m waiting for you to put your $$ where you’re big mouth is!
PS: Don’t be trying to forget your sorrows with too much booze January 18th PM. I wouldn’t want to read about some guy drowning in his jacuzzi in Southern California.

Carolyn,
Tell me, do you like Jess Jackson? Do you think he’s a good horsie owner? Do you think he was afraid of racing little Rachel in tough races? Do you think he is afraid of Zenyatta? I bet every day he thought about where he could race Rachel and not have to worry about Zenyatta. That’s why he went to the Preakness, Haskell and Woodward instead. Because Zenyatta would not be there. What do you think?
Do you drink wine? I bet you would not like Kendall Jackson wine. Because it’s stinky.
And do you think that Zenyatta is the best horsie in the whole wide world? I think she’s a pretty good horsie too!

Zenyatta’s record speaks for itself, but I wouldn’t claim she had a legacy if I admittedly didn’t know anything about horse racing. What is the scale that you refer to? Where would Gallorette rank on your scale? Oh, that’s right you don’t know anything about horse racing. I’ll give you some help. Gallorette may be the best older female horse ever. She routinely defeated males in major stakes races including Assault (Triple Crown Winner), Stymie and Armed. They are all in the Hall of Fame. A tad bit better than beating a turf horse, Gio Ponti and a dirt horse Summer Bird on a Pro Ride surface that Z excelled on. One race does not a legacy make. The only thing classic about the 2009 Breeders Cup Classic was the name.

#40

I wish you understood NY politics and the political football that is NYRA.

I have been laughing myself crazy…The Eclypse finalist are up,,,RA may or may not get HOTY,,,,but her owner and her so-called famous jockey that rode her to glory, isn’t even up for the nom….hahahahah
So funny…the horse is recognized, but not the owner or jock…..Just the horse herself….RA, you are the special one, not either of them two..

AJ- Let’s make two bets based on our bickering and insults and carping and caviling all year. 50 clams for HOTY and 50 clams for who will win more Eclipse Awards, horses that ran primarily in Southern California vs horse who principally ran in NY, If any horse category is won by a European horse or won by a horse who principally ran in, Kentucky, Illinois, Florida, Arkansas, Maryland, New Jersey, etc, then that category doesn’t count. So you take RA for HOTY and the NY horses, and I’ll take Z and CA horses. Deal?

J.F.:
The bet is HOTY. I don’t care about the other stuff. Dirt horses didn’t run a lick on the SA crap and you know it. Besides, “primarily” is too vague. Forget it.
If you don’t have the guts to back your rantings that Zenyatta will win HOTY over RA in one head to head bet, so be it. You were the one who wanted to bet on it 6 weeks ago. I guess you came to your senses.

Maybe a couple of drinks at Ciro’s or The Horseshoe Inn better meets
your pocketbook? LOL

The Classic meant something when Curlin and all the other horse’s won it, didn’t it???? But if RA would have won it in 09, it would have meant something, Right??? Well, great for the rest of the world, your opinion and yourself are in a small minority. The world is larger than you and your opinion.

DS- I know when AJ gets serious like this I need to stand down and beg him to allow me to retreat from the bet. I’m certainly not going to mess with him. So OK, no California vs New York bet; I’m sure he would have clobbered me on that one anyway, based on how well the NY horses did at the Breeders Cup vs the CA horses, I should just thank my lucky stars he’s graciously allowing to weasel out of that bet. So I’ll just change the bet to 100 clams on HOTY, unless he has a better number or something that involves eating one’s hat at Siro’s and then donning the appropriately embarrassing “I love “RA or Z t-shirt at the Horseshoe. And if Carolyn shows up, the loser has to wear the wig of her choice.

AJ- Andy Beyer’s article may be as un-Nostradamus as his last previous quote, right before the BC Classic was run where he said that the competition for Zenyatta in the Classic was much too great for her to stand a chance of winning. He said she would get murdered in the race. Apparently he has taken enough tricyclic medication following that race to muster the gall to pen yet another anti-Z article, which you cite. The guy disgraced himself and is now hoping we all forgot what he wrote before the Classic. We didn’t. Respected in previous decades, he has sadly morphed into the bumbling buffoon.

James Fallon:
OK, here’s the deal. Rather than negotiate any bets and amounts, etc., in this blog, I have a better idea.
I will call you on your cell phone (I saved your # from last Summer) Saturday, January 16th. at whatever will be a good time for you and we will discuss the wager particulars at that time. No more of this blog nonsense back and forth and waiting days for answers, etc.
Deal?
By the way, I see Zenyatta is still in training. Hmmmm. The feeling here is IF she loses HOTY, she will NOT be retired and will run in 2010. More than likely a meeting with Rachel will happen and if that doesn’t give racing the shot in the arm it needs, I don’t know what will. National TV coverage? I hope so.
Almost makes you want Rachel to win HOTY, doesn’t it?

PS: Andy Beyer is due to get one right.
And at least I know RA has one vote so far!

I also read the Andy Beyer’s article. I can poke holes in the entire article almost paragraph by paragraph and really question his wisdom now and will in the future just from this article & then compound it with his “Zenyatta stands almost no chance of winning the BC Classic” drivel and you can easily see what he is wishing for now and ultimately has to find a way to subdelegate that races importance to hopefully help achieve his wish of RA HOTY. Also if his assertion that a classic distance of a 1 1/4 mile would be needed to determine HOTY because is the definitive test for an American thoroughbred then RA should not even then be a consideration, she never raced that distance. If it has to be ran on dirt then Zenyatta should not even be considered either. He is a fool and is kidding no one. His article is nothing short of a joke.

AS MR. T would possible say “Horse of the year” that would go to Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta…fool. LOL. Sorry about that I couldn’t help myself.

aldavis:
For what it’s worth, and truth be told, RA ran one 1 3/16 mile race, and Zen ran one 1 1/14 mile race. After that, RA ran more 9 furlong races in her brief career than Zen did. Zenyatta’s career consisted of 9 of her 14 career starts being but 1 1/16 miles.

JJ avoided Zenyatta twice, Woodward instead of Beldame and sitting out the BCC. RA could have raced Zen anytime JJ wanted, however since all but one of RA’s races were 3yo restricted Zen only had one chance to race RA, the Woodward. But RA was also nonminated for 4 other races, nobody knew where RA would run so Zen connections were never given a real chance to run Zen against RA.

So the facts certainly tend to indecate that the RA camp did not want a race with Zenyatta since the RA camp never gave Zenyatta an opportunity to race. JJ is a great sales man he done a remarkable job of marketing RA. Unfortunately for him Zenyatta is a great race horse, undefeated two time Breeders Cup Champion.

Persionally I think the East Coast bais will carry the day for RA and she will win HOTY giving JJ his third HOTY in three years. RA campaige in 2009 was brillant and she is a deserving candidate. But should RA win HOTY the bar will be raised very high for her in 2010. In 2010 RA will have to prove she’s as good or better then Zenyatta. Not and easy task with horses like Careless Jewl, Life Is Sweet and Summers Bird waiting to take her on. And who knows Zenyatta is still in training. 2010 could be a very interesting year if JJ takes home his third HOTY with RA.

jpsbman:
Sherriffs was NEVER going to leave California weeks before the BC, so stop with the false info already. They made it clear all year that the BC was Zenyatta’s ultimate goal. She never had to leave California and the synthetic tracks she obviously loves (and most dirt horses despised as evidenced by the results of the last two BC race programs). Except for the ill fated trip to Churchill in May when a little mud kept her off the track.

It seems many of you have an ax to grind with Jackson. Jealous of his money I guess. But he said he would never return to SA’s synthetic track after Curlin had a problem with it last year. It was NEVER in his plans from the day he bought RA, and had nothing to do with Zenyatta, who didn’t even run her first race in 2009 at that time. So all he did instead is map out the most difficult and challenging campaign of any 3 yr. old filly on dirt in the history of racing.
Not to mention the sportsman Mr. Jackson was to bring Curlin back as a 4 Yr old in 2008 and thus passing up the lucrative money at stud for the year. So you should all stop with the ridiculous attacks on the guy.
HOTY comes down to Rachel’s unprecedented 3 yr old campaign and Zenyatta’s marvelous win in the BC Classic. I ask this question, which are we most likely to see again in our lifetime, a great 5 yr old mare win the BC classic, or a 3 yr old filly beat her own sex by 20 lengths in G-1 races multiple times, while also winning the Preakness, the Haskell against 3 yr old males, then become the first 3yr old filly to win a G-1 against older males in 65 years? The answer is obvious. It has NOTHING to do with the “East Coast bias” all you Left Coast crybabies keep squawking about.

JJ “DUCKED” ZENYATTA, Yes he did. On September 4, 2009, after the Woodward race, Christina Oliveris of TVG asked Jess Jackson( RA”s Owner), ” Now that RA has won the woodward, how about sending her to SA for the BC races? Jess Jackson said, ” We are not going to the BC or BCC because the Other Horse has the ADVANTAGE”. Now, if that isnt DUCKING Zenyatta then “WHAT IS”.
So, what does that statement tell you, I’ll tell you what it says. It says, My horse cannnot beat Zenyatta on her(Zenyatta’s) stomping grounds and I don’t want to take the chance and tarnish my horse’s reputation by having Zenyatta tear her up on synthetics…